Analysts had been expecting this holiday season would produce a drop in demand for personal electronics. However new data is showing the drop in demand exceeded the expectations of most experts.

According to new estimates from Gartner and IDC, new PC shipments dropped by 28% year over year in 2022’s fourth quarter. The decline marked the steepest quarterly drop Gartner ever recorded since it began tracking sales in the computer industry in the 1990’s. According to both research firm’s analysts, yearly shipments of new PCs also fell by over 16% in 2022 overall, compared to one year prior.

The declines were not spread evenly among all manufacturers however. The top three most popular brands, Lenovo, HP and Dell, experienced reductions in shipments of  between 29% and 37% during late 2022. According to Gartner, Acer saw shipments reduced by a staggering 41%. The fourth most popular brand, Apple, only saw its shipments fall by a mere 10%.

Garnet and IDC attribute the declines in PC sales to the same reasons other analysts have cited as the entire sector of personal devices has slumped.  In 2021, PC sales exploded, as the pandemic forced people to work from home, and workers, flush with stimulus checks, upgraded all of their hardware. However as people returned to the office following the pandemic, having just upgraded their home-hardware to the latest models, demand for new electronic devices plunged. In addition, as the economy declined, people had less money to expend on upgrades. Potential customers with new PCs and less money to spend on upgrades meant demand for new PCs collapsed.

IDC pointed out however, that the freefall in demand year over year was not as shocking as it first appeared. While the yearly and quarterly drops were precipitous, 2022 shipments were still “well above” the numbers seen just prior to the pandemic, according to analysts. Even though the drops in sales looked crushing, sales are still above what they were before the pandemic.

Analysts warn, however, the industry will likely not return the its peak sales numbers any time soon. Neither group of researchers expect the sector to really recover until 2024. IDC researchers note they only see, “pockets of opportunity” in 2023.

They note, PC makers will need to batten down the hatches during the economic downturn, and hope a combination of price cuts and new designs will sustain demand until the economy improves.